Garrido faces issues in light of miserable year

Updated 5:38 pm, Friday, May 3, 2013

Photo: Ted Kirk/Associated Press

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Texas coach Augie Garrido (center) — seen here during the 2009 College World Series — is college baseball’s all-time winningest coach, and has taken the Longhorns to Omaha seven times, with two national titles.

Texas coach Augie Garrido (center) — seen here during the 2009 College World Series — is college baseball’s all-time winningest coach, and has taken the Longhorns to Omaha seven times, with two national

UTSA head coach Sherman Corbett (second from left) and UT head coach Augie Garrido (center) have a chat with game officials prior to the start of their game at Wolff Stadium on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2004. (Kin Man Hui/staff)

UTSA head coach Sherman Corbett (second from left) and UT head coach Augie Garrido (center) have a chat with game officials prior to the start of their game at Wolff Stadium on Tuesday, Mar. 16, 2004. (Kin Man

AUSTIN — Stark, irrevocable numbers keep piling up against Augie Garrido, and the Texas baseball coach can do the math.

But he won't take the blame.

“I'm sorry I'm 74 years old,” Garrido said. “It's not my fault.”

As for the figures he can control, such as the big, ugly digits in the Longhorns' loss column and the zeroes that run across almost every one of their line scores, Garrido takes responsibility for those. His team is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row and of finishing with its worst record in 15 years, and Garrido isn't passing the buck.

The man who speaks lovingly of the magic of baseball does not attribute UT's misery to anything supernatural. The dugout philosopher doesn't blame the universe. The Zen master doesn't chalk it all up to the mysteries of life.

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A team that, heading into this weekend's games against Kansas State, has lost all six Big 12 series it has played this season.

A team that, at 23-20 overall and 5-13 in conference play, is in last place in its league and in danger of missing the Big 12 tournament. Only the top eight teams qualify for that event.

A team that, despite nationally elite pitching, has been rendered unimposing and essentially irrelevant because of a horrifically bad offense. Not only do the Longhorns rank last in the conference in runs scored, they're 267th out of 296 teams in Division I.

Five times this season, UT has played a game that ended 1-0. Fans who want to see scoring are better off watching soccer. Fans who want to hear the sound of hits are better off attending a Vanilla Ice concert.

“Where we're paralyzed is in the run-scoring department,” Garrido said. “And the harder you try, the worse it gets.”

The players say they're trying to fix it. So does Garrido. But it's become clear the man who's won more games than any coach in college baseball history, and the powerhouse program that just two years ago reached its sixth College World Series in a decade, aren't what they once were.

“It's not what's supposed to happen around here,” UT pitcher Parker French said of this season.

A big factor is the recruiting mistakes Garrido referenced. In 2011, UT had commitments from three top hitting prospects who all signed pro contracts. Last year, five of the Longhorns' top six position-player recruits chose to go pro.

That left Garrido with a team that knows how to get opponents out — the Longhorns rank ninth nationally with a 2.48 ERA — but with few players skilled at hitting the ball and scoring runs.

Thursday, he was asked if he still had the desire to keep trying. He said he understood the question had to do with his age, but said he “absolutely” is as motivated as he was when he arrived at UT in 1997, and “maybe more so.”

“There's some pretty good highlights to my career,” Garrido said. “They all came from years like this.”